ITV1 History
Information taken from Wikipedia. Following the creation of the Television Act 1954, the establishment of a commercial television service in the UK began. The Independent Television service, or ITV, was made up of regions, with each region run by different companies. The three largest regions (London, the Midlands and the North of England) were subdivided into weekday and weekend services, with a different company running each. ITV existed in a region-heavy form from its inception to the 2000s, although the switch was gradual. ITV1 became the generic on-screen brand name used by the twelve franchises of the ITV Network in the United Kingdom. The brand was introduced on 11th August 2001 by Carlton- and Granada-owned franchises, initially used alongside the local regional name. However, it became the sole on-air identity in 2002 when the two companies decided to create a single unified playout of the channel, with regional references only used prior to regional programming. Carlton and Granada went on to merge in 2004, creating ITV plc which now owns thirteen of the fifteen regional ITV licences. The ITV1 name was only used in England, Wales, Southern Scotland and Isle of Man until Channel Television ('ITV1 Channel Islands' from 29th March 2011) adopted the name on 16th January 2006, bringing it to the Channel Islands. It should be noted, however, that as national continuity is often used on Channel Television, ITV1 national branding had been seen on the station for several years previously. The licencees that used the ITV brand were Anglia Television, Border Television, Carlton Television, Central Independent Television, Channel Television, Granada Television, ITV Wales & West, London Weekend Television, Meridian Broadcasting, Tyne Tees Television, Westcountry Television and Yorkshire Television. ITV Wales & West was the only exception, using the name ITV1 Wales / ITV1 West at all times for the Welsh & Western England parts of its broadcast area as it has a higher regional commitment. Latterly the ITV1 Wales / ITV1 West name was only used on idents, breakbumpers and regionally advertised programmes till 24th September 2011 when the service was once again renamed to HTV. Non ITV plc-owned licencees on the network generally did not refer to the ITV name (HTV, STV & UTV) until ITV plc bought the regions on 3rd March 2016 - but their names still remain today. The network production arms of the ITV-plc owned licencees have been gradually combined since 1993 to eventually form ITV Studios. 13th January 2014 saw the comeback of the channel's 2004 idents and presentation, but using a 3D version of the March 2011 logo instead of the November 2004 one. Later, another identity comeback happened on 3rd March 2016 when the 'Hearts' idents from 1999 were reused to coincide with the new ITV corporate look, which also saw the launch of a new sister channel dedicated to all ITV1's top-rated programme episodes from the past and present - known as 'ITV1 Extra' (see further information below). ITV2 also brought back their 2001 idents from the same era. ITV1 Extra ITV1 Extra launched on all Freeview, Freesat, Sky, TalkTalk TV & Virgin Media platforms (including HD platforms, where viewers can now pay for their transaction fees before they start watching ITV HD), replacing former channels - ITV5, 6, 7, 8 & 9, on 3rd March 2016 as part of the network's rebrand. It officially launched following the closure of the former channels instead of just having a static screensaver and preview like any other upcoming channel on Freeview (where the channel is currently broadcasting on the former ITV5 EPG slot of ch37 except the Channel islands, where it is currently broadcasting on the former ITV6 EPG slot of ch55), and shortly launched on all other platforms afterwards. ITV1/ITV1 Extra on TopUp TV In April 2017, both channels became available on TopUp TV via subscriber's choice. Category:ITV Category:Television channels